EEOC Sues Horseshoe Casino and Caesars Entertainment Companies for Disability Discrimination and Retaliation

BALTIMORE – Casino operators CBAC Borrower, LLC, doing business as Horseshoe Casino, Caesars Baltimore Management Co., LLC, and Caesars Entertainment, Inc., violated federal law when they discriminated against an employee on the basis of disability and engaged in unlawful retaliation and interference, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the companies discriminated against a man who worked as a table games dealer at their Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The employee became ill while working on the casino floor and was transported to a local hospital in April 2023. The suit alleged that after the employee underwent disability-related surgery, he inquired about returning to work and asked for information about accommodations but the casino companies failed to engage in an interactive process, did not provide accommodations, unlawfully concluded that the employee could work only if he had no restrictions, fired him, and refused to reinstate or rehire him. The companies also unlawfully retaliated against the employee and interfered with protections provided to him by the ADA, the suit said.

“Employers must not discriminate against disabled workers by preventing their return from medical leave because they have disability-related restrictions,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office. “Employers have a duty to engage in an interactive process to identify and provide reasonable accommodations. The Commission is committed to enforcing the rights secured by the ADA and remedying unlawful retaliation and interference with those rights.”

The conduct alleged in the complaint violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which prohibits disability discrimination, retaliation, and interference. The ADA also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities unless it would cause undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. CBAC Borrower, LLC, d/b/a Horseshoe Casino, Caesars Baltimore Management Co., LLC, and Caesars Entertainment, Inc., Case No. 1:25-cv-04297) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. The legal staff of the EEOC also prosecutes discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.